Seconds setting mechanism



- Feb. 7, 1950 w. o. BENNETT, JR

SECONDS SETTING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 9, 1945 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM O. BENNETT,JR. BY A ATT Y.

Patented Feb. 7, 1950 SECONDS SETTING MECHANISM ,William Ogle Bennett,Jr., Lancaster, Pa... assig or to Hamilton Watch Company, Lancaster, Pa.

Application November 9, 1945,, Serial No. 627,710:

1 Claim.

This-1 invention relates. to a timepiece and includes Iimprovementsconsisting in a means for setting the timepiece while running and abreak circuit device operated on the second.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for setting atimepiece while running, to within a fraction of a second.

A further object of the present invention is to provide means forsetting a marine chronometer, having a fusee and a detent escapement, toa fraction of a second without stopping the balance Wheel.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a settingmeans for a marine chronometer which will permit setting of thechronometer hands during the running of the chronometer and which willnot interfere with the removal of the chronometer movement from thechronometer case.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide means forsetting a marine chronometer while running in half second incrementsmaking it thus possible to maintain the timepiece to within one-fourthof a second of the exact time.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a break circuitmechanism for a timepiece which can be used to operate a ticker systemor other signaling means every second on the second.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides inthe novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details ofconstruction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood thatchanges in the precise embodiment of the invention herein described maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from thespirit of the invention.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which the figurerepresents a diagrammatic view of the working parts of a marinechronometer showing the parts with regard to their function rather thanto their absolute structure and arrangement.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the chronometer is shownhaving a mainspring barrel l driving a fusee 2 through a fusee chain 3,which drives a pinion 4 on the center shaft 5 and incidentally a pinion6 connected to a gear 1 to operate a wind indicator 8.

The center shaft 5 carries a minute hand 9 and an hour hand 10 driventhrough appropriate gears ll, l2 and I3. Also mounted on the centershaft 5 is a center wheel I4 driving a pinion [5 r I 5, which isattached directly to and drives a third.

wheel I6.

The fourth shaft I! which carries the second hand I8 is connected to thethird wheel 16 through the driving pinion t9. Mounted for rotation onthe fourth shaft is a seconds break circuit wheel 2 0 operating a breakcircuit mechanism which will be described later. Also connected anddriven by the fourth shaft is a gear 21 driving planetary gear 22mounted on carrier gear 23 which is rotatably mounted on shaft t1 andcarried against shoulder 24 of shaft 11. Gear 25 attached to gear 22meshes with gear 26 which is attached to the escape drive wheel orfourth wheel 21.

The escape drive wheel 21 which is driven by the shaft I1 through theplanetary gear system and in turn drives the escape pinion 28, escapewheel 29 and balance wheel 30 continuously pro vides the necessarytorque at the pinion 28 to. maintain the balance wheel in a constantstate of motion.

Setting of the marine chronometer is done through movement of theplanetary gear system above described and the second hand [8 is advancedor retarded through movement of this system by pressing the setting knob3| causing the companion gear 32 to mesh with the idler gear 33.Rotation of this knob will then turn the carrier gear 23 through theaction of intermediate gears 33, 34 and 35 moving the axis of gears 22and 25 around shaft 11, advancing or retarding said shaft l! withrelation to the escape drive wheel 21 while maintaining a constanttorque against the pinion 28 and constantly supplying torque to theescape wheel which in turn drives the balance wheel. This turning ofshaft I! with relation to escape drive wheel 21 moves the second hand,the minute hand and the hour hand of the chronometer out of its previousphase relationship with the escape wheel. Connecting the carrier wheel23 and the idler gear 34 is a gear 35 mounted on a shaft 36 and carryinga star wheel 31. I

A spring finger 38 is pivotally mounted at 39 and engages the teeth ofthe star wheel so that movement of the carrier wheel 23 through theaction of setting knob 3i is always in exact increments here calculatedto be one-half a second on the reading of the second hand.

It will thus be seen that the chronometer may be set forward or backwardwithout disturbing the torque applied to the escape drive wheel 21 andthe escape pinion 28 so that the escape 3 pinion is always driven in thesame direction, thus maintaining the balance wheel at its normal regularmovement.

Referring to the seconds break circuit wheel 20 carried on the shaft I1and rotating in accordance with the seconds hand of the chronometer, aspring finger 40 adjustably mounted on block 4| has a tooth 42 engagingthe teeth 43 of the break circuit wheel 20 mounted on seconds hand shaftI9 to raise and lower the spring finger 40 so that electrical connectionbetween the points 44 and 45 is broken every second. The block 4| isprovided with a slide 46 and an adjusting screw 41 engaging a slot 48 insaid slide 46, movement of 9 What is claimed is:

A combination of a chronometer having hour, minute and second hands,said second hand advancing in half minute increments and provided with adetent escapement, with means for advancing or retarding, the runningmechanism including the second, minute and hour hand in exact halfminute increments.

WILLIAM OGLE BENNETT, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,310,780 Bryce July 22, 19191,813,942 Malles July 14, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date90,990 Switzerland Oct. 1, 1921

